Gambling for a better life across the Mediterranean

A non-functioning lighthouse on the beach of Garabulli. This part of the coast is often used by migrants to start their journey by sea in an effort to reach Italy. [Alessio Romenzi/CESURA/Al Jazeera]

Libya's coasts continue to be packed with migrants trying to leave the country for passage across the Mediterranean Sea.

On May 18 European Union ministers, in response to large scale emergencies, decided to launch an air and sea mission in Libya that could destroy the human traffickers' boats that transport people across the Mediterranean to Europe.

Just last week the Libyan Coastguard rescued 700 migrants from five rafts with unsafe standards. These migrants have been detained in the Alguaiha detention centre, that currently holds 400 men, women, and children, many of whom are from Eritrea, Somalia and Niger.

The men are held in group cells, each containing up to 60 people. They are allowed to exit their cells only to eat a meagre meal, always under the watchful eye of guards armed with plastic and metal batons.

Al-Zawiyha detention centre, meanwhile, is located near Tripoli and houses 821 adult men and adolescent boys. They are also locked in large and unclean cells, each with as many as 100 people, without enough space to lay down at night.

Many of the men are sick with scabies and malaria. Due to the war in Libya, it has become too risky for doctors to reach this isolated facility.

Some of the detainees said they were held by the traffickers for three months in a cave, before they were able to depart for Europe.

The raft broke shortly after they left the coast, they say. Though they lost everything during their initial attempt to reach Europe, many say they are planning to ask their families for money to try to cross the sea again.

One detained migrant said that every attempt to cross the sea is a gamble with their lives; a gamble they are willing to make.

A jailed illegal worker begs a Libyan guard to be put in touch with his family.The family is unaware that he has landed in jail. [Alessio Romenzi/CESURA/Al Jazeera]

A makeshift kitchen in the Al-Kararem detention centre where 900 basic meals are prepared for the detainees. [Alessio Romenzi/CESURA/Al Jazeera]

Migrants captured at sea, as they were attempting to reach Italy, have their meals in the courtyard of the Alguaiha detention centre. [Alessio Romenzi/CESURA/Al Jazeera]

A migrant captured at the sea looks outside his cell in the Alguaiha detention centre, near the coast of Garabulli. [Alessio Romenzi/CESURA/Al Jazeera]

The Alguaiha detention centre currently holds 400 men, women, and children, many of whom are from Eritrea, Somalia and Niger. [Alessio Romenzi/CESURA/Al Jazeera]

This Somali man says he sustained his chest injury during his arrest at sea when a guard hit him with the butt of his rifle. [Alessio Romenzi/CESURA/Al Jazeera]

Many water bottles are undrinkable at the Alguaiha detention centre. This Somali migrant is emptying them in the facility's courtyard. [Alessio Romenzi/CESURA/Al Jazeera]

At the Alguaiha detention centre, detainees are held in group cells. [Alessio Romenzi/CESURA/Al Jazeera]

Ahua, from Niger, stands in the courtyard of the Alguaiha detention centre. [Alessio Romenzi/CESURA/Al Jazeera]

Some migrants said that they were held by traffickers for three months in a cave before they were able to leave. The raft broke shortly after they departed. They were rescued by the Libyan Coastguard only to then be placed in a detention centre. [Alessio Romenzi/CESURA/Al Jazeera]

Migrants are often held inside overcrowded cells, such as this one in the Zawiyha detention centre. [Alessio Romenzi/CESURA/Al Jazeera]

Some migrants said that they never ask to be let out of their cell because they prefer to be locked in rather than be beaten and threatened by the Libyan guards. [Alessio Romenzi/CESURA/Al Jazeera]

Though the migrants who failed to reach Europe have lost everything at this point, many say they are planning to ask their families for money to try to cross the sea again. [Alessio Romenzi/CESURA/Al Jazeera]